Inter Extend League At Top To Six Points

Inter Milan stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to six points with a 2-0 win at Calcio Catania while second-placed Juventus lost to a Udinese Calcio team winless in Serie A since 29 October.

Three points clear of the Bianconeri at the start of play, Inter ended the night even further ahead thanks to goals from Dejan Stanković (5) and Zlatan Ibrahimović (71) and an unlikely defeat for Juventus in north-east Italy. Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring midway through the first half, a lead which Antonio Di Natale doubled 16 minutes from time. Former Udinese striker Vincenzo Iaquinta reduced the arrears from the penalty spot moments later but the Zebrette held on for their first victory in 12 league matches.

AC Milan looked set to go level with Juventus when David Beckham’s second goal in successive matches put the Rossoneri ahead against fourth-placed Genoa CFC, However, Diego Milito’s 13th league goal of the season (87) salvaged a point for the visitors. AS Roma are now just a point shy of Genoa after a 2-1 defeat of US Città di Palermo, Francesco Totti – making his first appearance of 2009 – and Matteo Brighi, either side of Edison Cavani’s equaliser, scoring the Giallorossi’s goals at the Stadio Olimpico.

Two other clubs harbouring ambitions of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, ACF Fiorentina and SSC Napoli, met in Florence, with the Viola winning 2-1. Meanwhile, Cagliari Calcio’s climb up the table continued with a 1-0 home success against AC Siena, a win that allowed the Sardinian outfit to leapfrog mid-table S.S. Lazio, who lost 3-1 to UC Sampdoria.

The big winners at the foot of the table were Bologna FC, who had Sergio Volpi (80) to thank for scoring the only goal at Atalanta BC. The Rossoblu are now five points clear of trouble in 16th after the bottom four all drew. Second-bottom AC Chievo Verona equalised two minutes from time to salavage a point at home to US Lecce, while bottom club Reggina Calcio held Torino FC, occupants of the final relegation place, 0-0.